Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted the Biden administration’s efforts to forgive student loan debt in a speech to the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in Houston, Texas. Addressing a crowd of approximately 3,000 teachers, Harris emphasized the administration’s vision for a future where students are supported and teachers are free from the burden of student loan debt.

“We see a future where every student has the support and the resources they need to thrive, and a future where no teacher has to struggle with the burden of student loan debt,” Harris stated. “As an example, our administration has forgiven student loan debt for nearly 5 million Americans.”

President Joe Biden has made multiple attempts to forgive student loans, facing significant legal challenges along the way. His initial plan, which aimed to forgive at least $400 billion in student loans, was struck down by the Supreme Court. Despite this setback, Biden has pursued smaller rounds of cancellation, some of which have also faced legal hurdles.

The AFT, led by its president Randi Weingarten, is the nation’s second-largest teachers union and a strong supporter of the Democratic Party in both local and national elections. Weingarten introduced Harris at the AFT’s national convention, alongside Pittsburgh teacher Brittany Shoup, who shared her experience of having her student loans forgiven under the Biden administration.

“I told her earlier that her entry into this race has electrified this race,” Weingarten said. “It has electrified this hall.”

Shoup praised the administration for simplifying the process of applying for loan forgiveness programs. “I applied and later had my student loans forgiven,” she said, adding that the relief had a significant positive impact on her life.

Weingarten urged the gathered teachers to increase voter turnout and support Harris’s presidential campaign. The AFT had voted unanimously to endorse Harris, making it the first major union to do so after Biden unexpectedly withdrew from the race.

When Harris took the stage, the energized crowd chanted “Kamala! Harris!” in a call-and-response fashion, delaying the start of her remarks. She shared the story of another teacher whose loans were forgiven by the administration. This teacher had been paying her loans for 20 years and still owed $40,000. “We forgave it all,” Harris said. The teacher, upon learning her loans were forgiven, celebrated with her children.

Elsewhere in her speech, Harris addressed other key policy issues of the Biden administration. She voiced her opposition to book bans, expressed support for transgender rights, advocated for protecting access to abortion, and endorsed gun control measures.

“We want to ban assault weapons, and they want to ban books,” Harris remarked. “Can you imagine?”

Weingarten, in the convention’s opening session, criticized GOP nominee Donald Trump, labeling him an “existential threat to democracy.” She warned that fascism often enters through subtle means, with violence coming later after they are voted in.

The union proposed various progressive political resolutions at the convention, including opposition to charter schools and the “ultra-right MAGA” Republicans.

Harris expressed gratitude to the AFT for being the first union to endorse her and emphasized the crucial role its members could play in her presidential campaign. “This work is personal, and it is professional, and it is so critically important,” she said. “It is because of [my first-grade teacher] Mrs. Wilson, and so many teachers like her, that I stand before you as vice president of the United States of America. And that I am running to become president of the United States.”